The present invention relates to a coin assorting and counting apparatus in which so called mixed coins, namely various kinds of coins, are assorted and the numbers of respective kinds of coins are counted on a horizontal assorting and counting track.
A conventional assorting and counting apparatus of this type (for example, one disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Publication No. 17094/1977) comprises a horizontal assorting mechanism and a counting mechanism disposed below the assorting mechanism. The counting mechanism includes a pair of belts for receiving coins allowed to fall from respective assorting holes, a driving zone for driving said belts and a counting zone for counting the number of coins received on the belts. Since this apparatus comprises two large mechanisms, the apparatus is inevitably large in size and very expensive.
In a conventional horizontal counting apparatus (for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 34084/1970), since it is intended to count the number of coins assorted by each assorting hole based on the difference between the number of coins allowed to fall and the number of coins passing in front of each assorting hole, it is necessary to provide a circuit for memorizing the number of passing coins and an operation circuit for performing a subtraction operation. The structure of the counting circuit as a whole is complicated and the counting apparatus is very expensive.